“It’s a shame that Ms Brown elected not to proceed in a respectful and amicable fashion in this very private matter,” Stephen’s legal team said in the statement.

“In due course, Mr Belafonte will be filing his response to the outrageous and unfounded allegations made by Ms Brown, which allegations he vehemently denies.”

“When the degree to which Ms Brown has gone to create a false depiction of her marriage to Mr Belafonte is uncovered, real victims and survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse will be understandably offended, angry and upset,” the statement added.

Awful: Stephen reportedly threatened to ruin Mel’s career if she left him | CBS

In the papers, filed with the Los Angeles Superior Court, Mel also alleged that Stephen got their nanny pregnant, forced her to engage in sexual acts with other women, blackmailed her with sex tapes and stopped her from calling an ambulance when she overdosed on aspirin.

The couple wed in Los Angeles back in 2007, and welcomed their daughter Madison four years later.

Mel is also mother to her 18-year-old daughter, Phoenix, who she had from her first marriage to dancer Jimmy Gulzar; and her nine-year-old daughter, Angel, from her brief romance with Eddie Murphy.